


Do You Realize??

by krixxm



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Caroline needs a hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, from my tumblr, glados is mean but she means well, someone hug her, wow another au that i have
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 12:14:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krixxm/pseuds/krixxm
Summary: Caroline blinked up at its dimly lit optic. It spoke in her voice. The facility was dark, everyone had long since gone home for the day. But if there’s one thing Aperture is good at, it’s holding an abundance of life in the presence of none.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Do You Realize??

“This, Caroline,” mused the supercomputer dangling from the ceiling, “is a story about you.”

Caroline blinked up at its dimly lit optic. It spoke in her voice. The facility was dark, everyone had long since gone home for the day. But if there’s one thing Aperture is good at, it’s holding an abundance of life in the presence of none. “That’s gotta be a metaphor for something,” Caroline thought to herself. She shifted her weight, the blisters on her heels screaming. She knew the kitten heels didn’t do much. She knew she had no one left to look nice for anymore. She paused. “Care to elaborate on that?”

Caroline was smart. Of course she knew what the computer meant. It meant that at this very moment, and in every moment that will follow, Apertures story was one of her own. She knew the stage belonged to her now; but god was she an awful actress. She much preferred being the stagehand. The manager. The one behind the curtain. But her leading man was dead. Cave Johnson, founder and (former) CEO of Aperture Labs, was dead; and she was stuck picking up the blood soaked shards of the ghost light he left broken. She knew what GLaDOS meant, but she needed to hear it out loud.

“Take the shoes off”, the computer hissed. “I know how much they hurt. Those blisters are never going to go away if you keep prancing around in heels you don’t need.” This, caught the woman off guard. “Really? You’re the biggest collection of knowledge known to man and all you have to say to me is ‘take my shoes off’?”

This is when Caroline was free to be herself. Her bitter, angry self in all of its glory. No lab boys, no scientists, no test subjects, no Cave. The thin veil she wore day in and day out was wrinkling fast. “I’m only trying to help you, Caroli-“ “I never asked for your help. I never asked for you.”

“And yet?”, the system replied. “And yet.”, Caroline sighed.

“What happened today?”, GLaDOS questioned. GLaDOS asked a lot of questions. Sometimes she got answers. Most times she got silence. She loved knowing how things worked, always needed more. To her, there was no “good” or “bad”, no “right” or “wrong”. There just was. She knew personal questions like this were usually met with brief responses that never actually revealed anything. Which is why she was so surprised to hear a genuine response from the woman standing below her. “Henry snapped at me again this morning.”

The computer stayed silent. They both stayed silent for a moment. Caroline took a deep breath. She hated talking about herself; but what does it matter when you’re talking to yourself?

“He wasn’t listening to me. I told him the plans for the upcoming investors meeting included wrong estimates and he snapped. Told me I didn’t know what i was talking about. Told me not to ‘worry my pretty face’. God i wanted to smack him. Bet everyone would get a kick out of that, huh? I just wish I knew why no one ever listens.”

Silence, yet again.

“I mean. Mom hated when I told her how uncomfortable skirts made me. And dad never listened when I told him that I would much rather be a scientist than a secretary. My teachers refused to listen to my ideas in school. Don’t even get me started on those idiots I dated. Well, ‘dated’,” she said with air quotes. “Kenny didn’t listen when I told him no. Cave didn’t listen when I told him no. The lab boys didn’t listen when I told them no. Am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong? God damn, I’m just so tired of it al-“

“They listened.”

“What?”

“You heard me. They listened. They just never cared.”

All true. All useless.

“Will they ever care?” The woman asked through silent tears. She knew the answer again. She knew a lot of answers. She just needed to hear it.

“One day,” was the response she got. She wasn’t expecting that. In her head, she was a doormat to everyone. In her head, she was almost okay with that. 50 years of insecure babies thinking that they’re men. “One day, they’ll listen to you.”. Tears hit the ground like fireworks. “How can you be so sure?”

“Caroline, I wouldn’t lie to myself.”

And with that, the woman took her shoes off and strolled silently back to her office.

**Author's Note:**

> hee hoo this is another au i have where caroline is still alive after the upload. im soft. yes the title is a reference to a flaming lips song dont look at me


End file.
